BOSTON  Atlanta Beat forward Sun Wen sat on the turf
at practice Thursday afternoon and laughed with her teammates. Nicknamed Sunny,
she was just that. And with good reason. She is almost healthy after a season
of injuries, and her team is playing the Bay Area CyberRays in the inaugural
WUSA championship game on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, TNT).

"She can play about 45-50 minutes and she's as pain-free
as she's been all year," Atlanta coach Tom Stone says. Sun will not start because
she still is regaining her fitness, but will be saved for the second half when
she is needed most.

"There's a new spring in her step and there's a serious
intensity in her eyes," Stone says. "She's no stranger in championship games
and she knows how much it means to us."

Notables: Either the Beat's Scurry and Parlow or the CyberRays'
Chastain and Tisha Venturini could become the first players to win an
Olympic gold medal, a World Cup championship and a WUSA title. Three CyberRays
players earned postseason honors: Beene (goalkeeper of the year, first-team
WUSA Global 11); Chastain (first team); and Lindsey (second team). Sawyers
was named coach of the year. The Beat had four players honored: Hooper
(first team) and Parlow, Sun and Scurry (second team).

By Kelly Whiteside

Sun, the captain of the Chinese national team, and the
USA's Michelle Akers, were voted as co-players of the century by FIFA, soccer's
governing body. Sun also was the first player chosen in the draft, but a knee
and ankle injury limited her season to just 13 games with five starts. Still,
she was named to the WUSA's Global 11 second team on Thursday.

"What we have to understand about Sun Wen is that we look
at Mia Hamm as the epitome of our game from playing and celebrity status. But
in a lot of ways, Sun Wen is that to the rest of the world and certainly that
in China," says Tony DiCicco, the WUSA's chief operating officer. "The only
thing I regret is that she hasn't been 100% for us to see her full skills, because
she is an exciting player to watch."

Still, there have been glimpses. In the Beat's 3-2 semifinal
win against Philadelphia last Saturday, Sun was back to her old self. Down 2-0,
Sun scored on a penalty kick and then assisted on the game-tying goal when her
perfect corner kick was headed in by Cindy Parlow.

"She makes everyone else around her better," Stone says.
"She's at the top because of her mind. She sees plays three or four plays in
advance. She's constantly analyzing. Besides that, our players were blown away
by how humble, sweet and kind she is. She is the best player in the world and
there's not a pretentious bone in her body."

Sun, 28, embraced American culture during her summer in
Atlanta. She learned English from her teammates and by reading children's books
and watching TV. ("My favorite shows were Friends, The Weakest Link,
3rd Rock from the Sun and Fear Factor," she says.) She also got
her driver's license. She had never driven before in her hometown of Shanghai.

"It was hilarious watching her get her license," Stone
says. "The moment she got her car, all of our players were arriving early and
leaving late because no one wanted to be near the road when she was on the road."

At one point during the season, Stone was concerned when
Sun appeared tired in practices. She was falling asleep in the training room
when she was getting her ankles taped. It turned out that Chinese families in
the city were having Sun over for parties every night to feed her Chinese food.

"She was having eight meals a day and up until 1 in the
morning," Stone says. "Everyone wanted her over because to these people, Michael
Jordan had come to their home. She never wanted to say no. She doesn't drink
but she was up every night."

Of the 22 players to earn postseason honors, 11 were international
players. The one notable exception was Bay Area forward Julie Murray from Australia.
Most likely, she was omitted because she had a slow start to the season before
going on recent goal-scoring spree.

Murray finished with nine goals and had two goals in the
semifinal game to give Bay Area a 3-2 win against the New York Power.

"It's not uncommon for international players to have a
slow start as they get themselves settled," Bay Area coach Ian Sawyers says.
"Now she's just exploded."

Murray is a big reason the CyberRays overcame a 1-4-1 start
to make it to the playoffs. "In the second half of the season, I think Julie
was the most prolific goal scorer in the league," DiCicco says.

Though Murray grew up in Australia, she played for a boys'
select team in McLean, Va., from 1979-82 when her father served in the Australian
Embassy in Washington, D.C. In Australia, she was named the most valuable player
and led the women's league in scoring several times.

Though her country is significantly behind the USA in soccer,
Murray thinks the WUSA may help advance the sport. "Maybe people back home can
see this league and think they have a future," Murray says. "We have so many
great young girls coming through and we're very young. So there's a future.
I only think in the next 5 years they'll be more Australians come into this
league." WUSA